Recommend Cloud-Based Video Recording Services.

[ctfjr]

My experience has been that all these Chinese cameras attempt to 'phone home' continuosly.
Another vote for Ubiquiti hardware for my lan. however I use Blue Iris software (about $60 iirc) to manage my cameras. All my cameras are restricted from access to the internet. I now use an assortment of Dahua cameras (wide angle, PTZ, telephotos, low light etc).
I store videos on a local desktop. Backup to a network attached server (NAS) and back up the NAS to my son's house.
My sons have collectively made me paranoid about getting my lan hacked into so I take whatever steps I can to secure the network. ie separate vpn for IOT devices, very secure passwords (no 2 alike).

Security has turned into a pia but the alternative is a lot worse.

 

[mikester]

The good ones are end to end encrypted.

All that means is nobody between you and the chinese servers are watching the video as it's getting streamed.

Anyone with a connection to the server or to the back door installed on your camera will be able to watch and control your device - with end to end encryption.

 

[mikester]

Question,, how hackable are these systems ?

Like the lock on your bathroom door

 

[mikester]

My experience has been that all these Chinese cameras attempt to 'phone home' continuosly.
Another vote for Ubiquiti hardware for my lan. however I use Blue Iris software (about $60 iirc) to manage my cameras. All my cameras are restricted from access to the internet. I now use an assortment of Dahua cameras (wide angle, PTZ, telephotos, low light etc).
I store videos on a local desktop. Backup to a network attached server (NAS) and back up the NAS to my son's house.
My sons have collectively made me paranoid about getting my lan hacked into so I take whatever steps I can to secure the network. ie separate vpn for IOT devices, very secure passwords (no 2 alike).

Security has turned into a pia but the alternative is a lot worse.

I find it interesting that if you block internet access to these cameras they will randomly change mac addresses to try and bypass firewall restrictions...even if you set them to static IP.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

One solution is to cut the wires going from modem to the outside world. Some early dialup modems had DPDT switches on them labelled 'online/offline',so nothing got in or out.
Wireless does have it's problems. According to my ISP, I have two 'PODS' attached to their Cable Modem. Rather odd seeing how one is sitting in front of me for over a year........
As for the random MAC to connect. You should have be able to create a table of ALLOWED devices/MAC addresses IF you have access to the modem's config/setup area. In my case no access as you need an ap on smartphone to access the modem ( 192.168.0.1 doesn't totally get you in...)

 

[The Evil Twin]

All that means is nobody between you and the chinese servers are watching the video as it's getting streamed.

Anyone with a connection to the server or to the back door installed on your camera will be able to watch and control your device - with end to end encryption.

I'm pretty confident in my network security. Sure, everything is hackable if it is available through an internet connection or WiFi. Most of the good cameras have been third party tested and don't have the "back door" firmware that made news 6 years ago. Don't buy crap from a big box store and there isn't much to worry about. Add proper network security protocols to it and that makes your system not worth their time. There are easier targets.
But I can assure you that cloud storage as a backup to NAS for security cameras is nearly uncrackable when done properly. Saying anyone with a connection to the server can access my (or anyones) content is simply false.
You do you though.

 

[skeets]

Like the lock on your bathroom door

I dont have a lock on the bathroom door

 

[mikester]

ipv

But I can assure you that cloud storage as a backup to NAS for security cameras is nearly uncrackable when done properly.

LMAO

Ring, Google and the Police: What to Know About Emergency Requests for Video Footage

The law lets Ring and Google share user footage with police during emergencies without consent and without warrants. Here's everything you should know.

www.cnet.com

FYI If you use alexa or siri or any smart tv/device that accepts voice commands you have 24x7 audio surveillance in your house that is uploaded to foreign servers and stored indefinitely. They are all "secure" for your benefit. You have NO control over your data THEY own.

 

[xrocketengineer]

I still think that for me, the Foscam cameras is the way to go. They are a little harder to setup using the computer software (VMS) than with the cell phone but you can bypass all the nonsense of having to create an internet account with them. Instead, you can create a local account with the computer, connect your cameras and setup the cameras to see real time and recorded video (from the SD card or NVR) and to send you email notifications of any motion with pictures. That was the original (years ago) way to setup and use the cameras.
If you want to remotely watch real time or video recordings on your cell phone or use their paid cloud services then you need the Foscam account.

Even Ubiquiti has security issues:

Ubiquiti blunder let some customers watch others' feeds

Cloud misconfig blamed and now fixed

www.theregister.com

 

[wp6529]

I still think that for me, the Foscam cameras is the way to go. They are a little harder to setup using the computer software (VMS) than with the cell phone but you can bypass all the nonsense of having to create an internet account with them. Instead, you can create a local account with the computer, connect your cameras and setup the cameras to see real time and recorded video (from the SD card or NVR) and to send you email notifications of any motion with pictures. That was the original (years ago) way to setup and use the cameras.
If you want to remotely watch real time or video recordings on your cell phone or use their paid cloud services then you need the Foscam account.

Even Ubiquiti has security issues:

Ubiquiti blunder let some customers watch others' feeds

Cloud misconfig blamed and now fixed

www.theregister.com

Yes, anything that is in any way "hosted" is going to have vulnerabilities. The more "professional" options like Ubiquiti are still going to be far better than the mass market crap being pushed on consumers primarily to aid in data mining them.

The best options are the more "professional" IP cameras, configured by you, on your own network also configured by you, stored on the NVR configured and physically secured by you, and encrypted and backed up off site by you.

The key thing here is that the most secure options require you to learn and understand everything, not just take it out of the box, plug it in and pretend that the big bad companies have your best interests covered.

 

[The Evil Twin]

ipv

LMAO

Ring, Google and the Police: What to Know About Emergency Requests for Video Footage

The law lets Ring and Google share user footage with police during emergencies without consent and without warrants. Here's everything you should know.

www.cnet.com

FYI If you use alexa or siri or any smart tv/device that accepts voice commands you have 24x7 audio surveillance in your house that is uploaded to foreign servers and stored indefinitely. They are all "secure" for your benefit. You have NO control over your data THEY own.

Not sure what you are LOLing for. That is apples and oranges. Neither the police, nor Ring/ Amazon broke AES 128 encryption. Ring/ Amazon gave the video to the police. Never mind the fact that those incidents were prior to Ring implementing E2EE and encrypted storage.
Not that I am advocating for Ring.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I still haven't heard IF your data in the host cloud server IS encrypted by the owner somehow ?